Stripe and private-equity firm Advent have reportedly stopped pursuing an acquisition of PayPal, ending what could have been one of the largest leveraged buyouts ever. The proposed deal matters because it would have combined major payments businesses and potentially reshaped competition with card networks such as Visa and Mastercard.

The group reportedly offered about $53 billion for PayPal in July, when the company was valued at roughly $40 billion, and had been considering a higher bid after PayPal rejected it. PayPal’s shares have since risen 40 per cent following stronger-than-expected quarterly results and takeover speculation, likely making a debt-financed purchase harder to justify; its market value peaked at around $320 billion during the pandemic. New chief executive Enrique Lores is pursuing a turnaround focused on checkout, Venmo and payments/crypto, while Bloomberg reports that a future bid remains possible.